Shum Ka-chung says Lau Siu-lai's disqualification as a candidate was distinct and inevitable due to her own statements and actions

Ever since Lau Siu-lai declared in September her intention to run in the upcoming Legislative Council by-election, a copious amount of commentaries have been published, predicting that it is highly likely she would be disqualified for the second time. The written justification by the returning officer on Oct 12 specified two major reasons for the revocation of her candidacy: First, her unrelenting persistence in advocating "self-determination" and "Hong Kong independence"; second, the fact that she only recently removed her separatist electoral platform and political statements. Therefore, she can't convince people that she has parted with secessionist politics.

Referring to the first justification, the returning officer pointed out that the joint statement issued by Lau on July 30, 2016, which is subsequent to the end of the nomination period for the 2016 LegCo election, called for "democratic self-determination" while keeping open the option for independence. The officer believes Lau's unequivocal declaration on separatism as an option reveals her refusal to accept China's sovereignty over Hong Kong.

Further justifications include the fact that Lau did not properly take her oath in 2016 according to Article 104 of the Basic Law. This can be interpreted in conjunction with a statement on her Facebook page on Oct 13, 2016, which questioned the legitimacy of Hong Kong's political system, the SAR government, the Basic Law and even the chief executive. Reading her political declaration alongside her statements on Facebook, one has every reason to doubt whether she sincerely supports the Basic Law.

The above two reasons alone are sufficient to disqualify Lau. The series of actions she took after declaring her intention to run in the by-election unwittingly exposed her insincerity. As mentioned by the returning officer, it is believed that Lau has not genuinely altered her political stance considering the time she removed the separatist electoral platform and her publicly known political stance since 2016. The recent removal of her secessionist platform was merely a strategy to avoid invalidation of her eligibility.

The returning officer has correctly traced Lau's unaltered "self-determination" stance and seen through her political trick. The decision to disqualify her is reasonable and legal. It can be said that Lau has not only lost the opportunity to enter LegCo, but also lost her purpose in the "pan-democratic" camp. The second disqualification sends a clear signal to Lau that unless she repents and breaks away from separatism, she will indefinitely lose her eligibility to run in LegCo elections.

On Oct 12, 2016, Lau took the oath of office improperly and lost her membership in LegCo. Two years later on the same date, Lau's nomination was also revoked. Within these two years, no matter how she altered her political platform and modified her slogans, the fact that she supports "self-determination" and secession can never be hidden from the public, let alone be acquiesced by the returning officer.

Since Lau's foray into the political arena, she has been a staunch advocate of "self-determination" and was reluctant to establish ties with the traditional "pan-democrats". She came closer to other "self-determination" parties after winning the LegCo election in 2016. Her collaboration with the Labour Party this time was merely out of political expediency. However, she could not choose another "self-determination" candidate as Plan B, nor did she choose Frederick Fung Kin-kee, former chairman of the Hong Kong Association for Democracy and People's Livelihood as Plan B. The reason for that is the political forces that direct her behind the scenes realize a "self-determination" candidate will ultimately be disqualified. Therefore, they could only choose a traditional "pan-democrat" as Plan B. They owe Lee Cheuk-yan a favor in the 2016 LegCo election, as the ThunderGo campaign inadvertently thwarted his attempt to regain a LegCo seat. As a result, we are now witnessing a political farce in which Lee suddenly shifted from New Territories West to run for the Kowloon West constituency seat in the by-election as the Plan B candidate.

The author is a senior current affairs commentator.

(HK Edition 10/18/2018 page7)